30 
STRANGE DWELLINGS. 
is the usual average, but burrows have been opened where the 
length was full fifty feet, and where the course was most annoy- 
ingly variable, bending and twisting about so as to tire the 
excavators, and make them quite disgusted with their work. 
The natives never dig out the entire burrow, but push sticks 
along it, and sink shafts upon the sticks ; just, in fact, as a boy 
digs out a humble bee’s nest, by inserting twigs into the hole, 
and digging down upon them. 
This serpentine form of burrow is in all probability attribu- 
table in a great degree to the peculiar instincts of the animal. 
As, however, the course of the tunnel is extremely variable, and 
no two burrows have precisely the same curves and windings, 
it is likely that various obstacles, such as roots and stones, may 
turn the animal out of its course while engaged in digging 
its subterranean home, and therefore that the shape of the 
burrow may in some degree depend upon the character of the 
ground. 
At the upper extremity of the burrow is placed the nest, an 
excavation of a somewhat oval form, much broader than the 
width of the burrow, and well supplied with dry weeds and 
grasses, upon which the young may rest. They appear to 
remain in these burrows until they have attained half their full 
growth, for Dr. Bennett captured a pair of young Ducklings, 
ten inches in length, which seemed not to have left the burrow. 
Sometimes there are four young in one nest, and sometimes 
there is only one, but the usual number is two. 
There is another strange Australian animal, also remarkable 
for its power of burrowing. This is the creature which is 
known as the Porcupine Ant-eater ( Echidna hystrix ), and 
is called by the very erroneous names of Porcupine, or Hedge- 
hog. The natives have several names for it, some calling it 
Nicobejan, others Jannocumbine, and others Cojera. 
The Echidna is a wonderful burrower, and, in spite of its 
small size, can make its way through very hard ground. It 
can pull up stones of great size if it can only contrive to insert 
its paws and find a convenient crevice for them, and is so quick 
